The popularity of barbecue grills and outdoor cooking devices has increased tremendously over the last twenty-five years. Initially, charcoal barbecue grills having combustible solid fuel were utilized to cook food via radiant and convective heat. Subsequently, gas barbecue grills, which employ a gas burner, were utilized. Often, the food to be cooked in both charcoal and gas grills was situated on a grate having numerous elongated members, openings, and cross members which cause the grate to have a grid-like configuration. Accordingly, to cook food in such barbecue grills the radiant and convective heat energy dispelled from either the charcoal or gas burners passed through the cooking grate and were directed to the food. An example of the conventional grate is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,452 to Schlosser et al. There, the grate is formed from a plurality of elongated rods about openings, both of which are within a perimeter defined by a circular ring. Another example of the conventional grate is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,343 to Rigney et al. There, the grate has a generally rectangular shape with numerous openings and elongated structures.
Conventional grates, including those described above, are adequate for cooking foods which are relatively large in size and which tend to cook in a harmonious mass, such as burgers, steaks, chops, hotdogs, sausage, chicken, etc.
Conventional grates suffer, however, from an inability to cook small and/or delicate foods without the loss of substantial amounts of the small and/or delicate foods through the apertures in the standard grate. For example, fish tends to flake when cooked, and when cooked on a conventional grate, the fish is inadequately supported and tends to fall through the apertures in the grate. Similarly, sliced or chopped vegetables are often cooked on a barbecue grill to obtain a distinctive flavor and appeal, however, these smaller items also tend to fall through the cooking grate, making outdoor cooking of these items extremely frustrating.
Various attempts have been made to develop devices for cooking or grilling specialty foods items, particularly small food items, on outdoor barbecue grills. Many of these devices suffer from additional deficiencies. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,855 to Avner describes a secondary grilling apparatus, which comprises a flat sheet of metal with rectangular openings that clips onto the bars of conventional barbecue grills. The sheet provides a secondary area for grilling with smaller openings. However, the device cannot be easily taken out of the barbecue grill while hot. Further, the perforation design on the grate of the '855 patent may allow thermal stresses to accumulate and cause potential warping of the cooking area.
A second prior art device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,786 to Brown. The '786 patent discloses a food pan for placing on the grate of a barbecue grill for permitting grilling of small foods which would otherwise fall through a conventional grate of a grill. The food pan of the '786 patent includes a plate member with plurality of apertures extending through the upper and lower surfaces of the plate member to permit heat and smoke to reach food on the plate member. The apertures of the plate member are arranged in grid-like fashion having a plurality of columns and rows. The columns extend between the ends of the plate member, and the rows extend between the sides of the plate member. Because of this design, the aperture design of the '786 patent may also allow thermal stresses in the plate member to accumulate and cause potential warping of the cooking area.
Another prior art device is shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 of this disclosure. This device is similar to the device disclosed in the '786 patent in that the plate member has a plurality of apertures arranged in a grid-like fashion having a plurality of rows and columns. Like the design of the '786 patent, this design has the same deficiencies; the cooking area could warp due to the accumulation of thermal stresses. One way in which manufacturers of these prior art devices attempted to control warping was to weld the sidewalls together in an attempt to make the basket more rigid. Unfortunately, this does not entirely solve the warping problem. Moreover, it adds unnecessary cost, and does not work with flat devices.
Accordingly, a simple and inexpensive griddle device for cooking small and delicate foods reduces warping under heat and/or moisture in accordance with the present invention will provide an apparatus that attempts to eliminate the drawbacks of prior grate devices.